real world examples & python

[Duncan Booth]

thefireinside at hotmail.com (Steve Keri) wrote in 
news:ea903c3a.0105310123.61143fe2 at posting.google.com:

> Can someone give me examples of apps you can develop with scripting
> languages and maybe give examples of programs that are not a good idea
> w/ python and it should be left up to C++ and VB. Thanks a lot!
> 
> -Steve

If you positively cannot write it in Python, use C/C++/Assembler, whatever 
is appropriate. This applies to device drivers, and interfacing to other 
languages/libraries or environments where no Python interface exists. 
Restrict the non-Python part of the program to the minimum possible.

Then write the rest of your application in Python. This includes all speed 
critical parts.

Then refactor the speed critical parts of the Python application where they 
are too slow, speeding them up as far as Python allows.

Finally is any parts of your application are still too slow, rewrite those 
parts ONLY in C or C++ (and unless the total run time you save over the 
life of the program exceeds the time taken to recode in C/C++, you 
shouldn't even consider recoding it).

typical examples of apps you should write in Python:
    	heavy duty number crunching (See the numeric extensions)
    	shoot-em up video games (See the PyGame extensions)
    	low level system processes (See PythonService for NT services)
    	plus all the obvious ones...

typical examples of apps you should not write in Python:
    	anything where the customer absolutely insists on another language.

    	anything that depends heavily on a large pre-existing library where no
    	Python interface exists and the total time to write all required
    	applications in the language for which the interface does exist is
     clearly less than the time to write the Python interface and apps.

    	applications where you have no control over the target environment,
     and Python may not be available. For example you cannot assume that
    	Python will be available for scripting web pages unless you have full
    	control over the target environment, so Javascript could be a better
    	choice in these cases.

-- 
Duncan Booth                                             duncan at rcp.co.uk
int month(char *p){return(124864/((p[0]+p[1]-p[2]&0x1f)+1)%12)["\5\x8\3"
"\6\7\xb\1\x9\xa\2\0\4"];} // Who said my code was obscure?